Allan
says that the market gains of the last 18
months have rewarded equity investors nicely,
but actually make it harder for us to simply recommend more equities for
our clients. The recent growth may in fact have pushed you overweight in
stocks. A quick review of your target asset allocation is in order.

Also, for many clients, being a full year closer to retirement,
means that we need to become more conservative. Depending on
your situation, bonds may be the appropriate choice.

As always, our team is here to help you so contact
us for advice. Also, check out the resources listed below. We
would be pleased to
review your overall asset allocation, and provide a recommendation
appropriate for your portfolio. Don't be one of those people
who will spend more time this year planning a vacation, than they do
planning for retirement!

More on your 2005 RRSP contribution ...

Know
your RRSP limit From CRA - The Canada
Revenue Agency website allows you to log on to "Your
Account". There, you can see your RRSP contribution limit.
For an easier way to see your exact RRSP room, look at your notice
of assessment from last year, it was attached to your income tax
refund.

Tax Receipts

ScotiaMcLeod RRSP receipts for contributions made from March -
December 2004, have already been mailed. RRSP receipts for the
first 60 days of 2005, will be mailed as contributions are made, or for
payroll accounts, by March 10th.

Canadian Mutual Fund Assets Continue to Grow

Canadians continue to have increasing assets in mutual funds, and
December 2004 continued the trend. Fueled by strong market
performance, assets
increased for the third consecutive month to its highest level ever for
the industry. Overall mutual fund assets rose $58 billion or 13.3%
in 2004. Source: IFIC

Lower Fees on Fidelity Funds

Fidelity funds announced recently that investors in most of its funds
will soon be enjoying lower management fees. This applies to investors in their "front end load" or
Initial Sales Charge (ISC) fund
versions. Also, investors who have Deferred Sales Charge (DSC) funds,
where the DSC has expired, will see their units rolled over to the new
front load version with the lower Management Expense Ratio (MER). We will continue to work to
find the most cost effective ways to help you invest.

Please contact us
if you would
like us to review your fund DSCs. DSC expired units can be converted to their equivalent front-end load version at no
charge.

More on lower Fidelity fees ...

Tsunami Relief

We have all been affected by the events in Asia. Your
investment team has made a significant donation to the Red Cross.
Scotiabank has set up online and in-branch collection of donations for
the relief effort. We
are pleased to work for an organization that takes a leadership role in
difficult situations like these.

Donate
Online or In Person -
The Bank of Nova Scotia has set up a site to make it easier to
donate online and branches will be accepting donations until January
28th.

Fun With Numbers

What is Risk? We are often asked what our "risk" number
on our recommended list means. It is a figure provided by Morningstar
to help understand how much the fund price has fluctuated on a
month-by-month basis over the last 3 years. Specifically, the risk
figure is the standard deviation of the month-end unit price over the
last 36 months.

But there is more to risk than just monthly fluctuations. Another way to look at market risk is the percentage of
time periods over which one
could lose money. If you were to hold an investment for a certain period of
time, how likely would you be to make money. Using the example of the
S&P500 index (see chart & graph, below), if you had bought the
index and sold it an hour later at any point between 1926 and 1998, there
is a 50.2% chance you would have made a profit. However, if you had held
the investment for any 15 year period during those years, there is a
100% chance, you would have made money.

Periods When Stock Returns Were Positive, 1926–1998

Hour

50.2%

Day

51.4%

Month

56.3%

Quarter

60.5%

Year

71.0%

5 Years

89.7%

Decade

96.8%

15 Years

100.0%

20 Years

100.0%

Sources: Behavioral
Investing, Ibbotson

This demonstrates the risk of not being invested, and missing the long term
performance of the markets.

All investments have risk associated with them. Even risk free investments like savings
accounts or Treasury bills have risk (i.e. the risk of inflation leaving
you with negative returns). Understanding and weighing the risks associated
with any particular investment is key. Ultimately, the goal is balancing risk and return. As
always, we are here to help you in assessing the risk of individual
investments and investment strategies - contact us
for more information.

More on risk ...

Risk Calculations -
Detailed description of the statistical basis we use for assessing mutual fund risks.

Fidelity has a great site about getting the best advice from your
investment advisor. Appropriately enough, the site is called "Getting
Good Advice". It also has some great planning and portfolio
evaluation tools. We recommend you take a look.

® Registered trademark of The Bank of Nova Scotia, used under licence. ™ Trademark of The Bank of Nova Scotia, used under licence. Scotia Wealth Management™ consists of a range of financial services provided by The Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank®); The Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Company (Scotiatrust®); Private Investment Counsel, a service of 1832 Asset Management L.P.; 1832 Asset Management U.S. Inc.; Scotia Wealth Insurance Services Inc.; and ScotiaMcLeod®, a division of Scotia Capital Inc. ("SCI"). Wealth advisory and brokerage services are provided by ScotiaMcLeod, a division of SCI. Insurance services are provided by Scotia Wealth Insurance Services Inc., the insurance subsidiary of SCI. When discussing life insurance products, ScotiaMcLeod advisors are acting as Life Underwriters (Financial Security Advisors in Québec) representing Scotia Wealth Insurance Services Inc. SCI is a member of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund and the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada.

The Spiess McGlade Team is a personal trade name of Carl Spiess and Allan McGlade.